Album Review: Modest Mouse The Golden Casket

It’s been 17 years since the still shimmering single ‘Float On’ changed the life of Isaac Brock and Co. forever. A track that affirmed that this Mouse could roar with the best of them, it transformed them from plucky indie also-rans to platinum selling festival favourites within weeks of release. While the following decades saw plenty of change as they welcomed members of seminal acts like the Smiths and the Murder City Devils in (and out) of their ranks and wrestled with both fame and their musical direction, one thing remained constant-Brock’s ability to write hugely uplifting songs about how the world could break your heart.

Modest Mouse’s first album in six years sees the tunesmith in a candid (‘Lace Your Shoes’) and comical mood (‘Fuck Your Acid Trip’) and features some of Isaac’s catchiest material to date (‘Walking And Running’). ‘We Are Between’ is the star of the show. A beautiful slice of indie peppered with hooks that call to mind Two Door Cinema Club and their ex-bandmate Johnny Marr, it will sound absolutely massive in a beer-soaked field. While the LP loses its way near the end with needlessly cluttered arrangements, ‘Back To The Middle’ ends proceedings on a high note thanks to some soaring, post rock flavoured, distortion pedal bothering guitars. 
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